


destiny plays its cards

by thisisstateofgrace



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: AU one shot, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:40:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23948554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisstateofgrace/pseuds/thisisstateofgrace
Summary: the locket was a bit of robin that she chose to hide away and keep safe until the right moment. in a way, it was her heart. today is her wedding and ted feels like he's holding her heart in his hands.
Relationships: Robin Scherbatsky/Barney Stinson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	destiny plays its cards

**Author's Note:**

> this is as if the ninth season didn’t exist. it’s the day of barney and robin’s wedding but without any of the things that happened in season nine until their actual wedding.

ted goes through all of that trouble to find the locket. he tells lily and himself that it doesn’t mean anything (‘ _it’s just a gift!_ ’) but, as he’s holding the locket in his hands, he knows it. he knows he’s always thought he’d be the one marrying robin and a (not so) small part of him hopes that when he gives it to her, it’ll make her realize she wants that too. 

the problem is that he doesn’t understand, fully, what this means, though. he doesn’t stop and think about the fact that he’s actually trying to steal his best friend’s fiancee. that is until it’s the day of the wedding, then it hits him. it hits him that his lazy excuse is an excuse. and what he wants, what he truly hopes, is too much. so he holds the locket close the entire day, waiting for the right moment.

lily tells him barney’s asking for him, so he goes. _right after this, i’m heading to robin’s room_ he tells himself, taking out the shinning locket from his pocket to get one good look at it. there's a weird sinking feeling on his chest as he walks in the groom’s room, quickly shoving the locket back in his pocket. barney was fixing his tie, he stops and turns around “what do you think of this one?”. the look on barney's face is indecipherable but definitely calmer than one would expect, which hits ted like a baseball bat in his stomach _he’s so calm, so sure._

ted shakes off that weird feeling and says “looks brilliant, man.” he tries to smile. “is that all?” he gestures to the door, anxious to leave.

the expression on barney’s face changes at that, as if ted’d said something wrong. the best man stands paralyzed by the door while barney takes two steps closer and points to ted’s pants “what’s _that_?” he asks. the chain from the locket is hanging _shit!_

ted reluctantly stares back at barney’s fixating look. much to his surprise, he finds barney half smiling. it creeps him out, but it gives him the slightest boost of confidence he needs to use his excuse “it’s my wedding gift, i found robin’s locket”.

if there actually was a tiny smile there, it’s nowhere to be found now “don’t take me for an idiot, ted,” barney’s mad. obviously. “that’s not just a wedding gift”.

ted is trying to come up with an answer to that but he's busy staring at barney right now. the reality of it all hitting him right in the face, too late. he just needs to figure out what exactly he wants to tell barney, which he clearly should've done beforehand. _stupid_.

”you can’t possibly believe i don’t know what this means” barney then says, louder this time, when he gets no response.

“barney, i-”

“what is the plan? run away with her? have her write me a note? move out? disappear from everyone’s lives?”

ted is still paralyzed. well, yes, he thinks to himself. not that he had thought that far out, clearly. _stupid_.

barney’s pissed. he's clenching his fists and looking everywhere around the room. maybe not the time, for sure, but ted wonders why does it seem like his reaction is pure rage. there doesn't seem to be a sign of desperation or fear.

now, he's looking directly to ted “do you remember what you said to me when you found out i had slept with robin the first time? you said ‘i always thought i was the limit’. yeah, fair enough. i always thought i was the limit, ted. i always thought i wouldn’t be the man whose fiancee you’d try to steal”

_ouch_. then, a thought comes to mind: right after he leaves this room, he's gonna give robin the locket and she will decide. but now, he just needed to be a man and face barney about it. so he says, finally “i just want robin to be happy”

“and you think you can do that better than me, is that it?”

“i don't know, i went looking for the damn locket! you did nothing! all week! everyone was expecting you to at least try” it's harsh, true, but it's time he said that. it’s been infuriating to watch barney not care.

barney laughs at that, a loud, expansive laugh. ted thinks the man had lost it. he asks himself if he is about to get physically punched, he can't tell.

“yeah right” he finally stops laughing, which now ted isn't sure is better. “you think because you have the thing, that means something, huh”

ted doesn't answer, just gives a barely-there nod.

“a classic ted, destiny type thing, right?” “maybe. i need to know, barney. listen-”

“no, that’s enough. maybe you should think about the fact that she chose me. she said yes. she’s here. she’s gonna say yes to me again in a few hours. you thought about that while you went looking for it?” ted opens his mouth to say something, probably about chances, about never giving up, he doesn't know yet and barney clearly doesn't wanna hear it because he starts again “the thing is, ted, i can only imagine what you’re feeling. i love her. i wouldn’t wanna be in your position. but i wouldn’t do that. i would never do that. if she had chosen you, i’d respect that.”

silence fills the room.

“but if her choice isn’t enough for you, allow me to ease your mind, then. the universe chose.”

“what”

“i don’t know what you have there with you, ted," he gestures in ted's direction "but the locket is in robin’s neck, right now, i just put it on her”

ted’s entire world starts spinning. first, he thinks _ok, barney’s just gone insane_. then maybe _he’s fucking with me_. and finally _what if he’s serious, though?_ it strikes him, all at once _if he’s serious, it’s over_. he sits down on the little couch in the corner and looks up. he tries to ask ‘what are you talking about’ but words don't come out because he keeps thinking that not once in this conversation has barney asked how or where he found the locket.

barney gets it though, he sits down too, takes a deep breath and starts telling a story that would change everything. he speaks slowly.

“a few years ago, robin was about to go to japan and i was secretly in love with her. you knew that” “yeah” “well, then, one night, robin calls me and asks me to come over, she says she needs an important favor. it was so late, probably 4 or 5. but as i said, i was in love with her, i would’ve done anything” he chuckles. “funny how timing works, maybe if this had happened months before i’d just tell her to go to sleep and tell me in the morning, who knows”

ted is wildly confused, he takes out what he thought was robin’s locket from his pocket and stares at it. he'd been so caught up, convinced he was the one meant to find the stupid thing, that it hadn't crossed his mind the fact that he doesn't really know what it's supposed to look like.

“i get there in 5 minutes. she’s alone, you were at stella’s and she’s very drunk. like so drunk” he stops to think if he’d ever seen robin that drunk again while ted is starting to see where this is going “no, yeah, the drunkest i have ever seen her. messy hair, a little bit of mud on her face, weirdest thing. well, i ask what’s the favor. she hands me the locket and tells me ‘please, keep this. hide it somewhere, save it. i don’t think i can take it to japan’. i tried to get her to tell me what the locket was, whose is was, why was it important, anything. she wouldn’t tell me. she only answered when i asked ‘why me’, she said she trusted me” he smiles. barney had just told her this story, just minutes ago, but thinking about that part always catches him, it’s sweet. “other than that, she just kept saying she couldn’t lose it, she had to know it was safe, that she was scared she’d lose it. so i gave up, put her to sleep and went home”

ted’s got it. it was that night robin dug out the locket with lily. except lily left and robin called barney.

barney continues “i kept that thing for years, dude, i didn’t know what it was. i knew she didn’t remember anything about that night, because i made a silly joke about staying up late the next day to her and she didn’t get it. after that, i was constantly waiting for her to show signs that she was looking for it, for the locket. you know, ‘cause she went on and on about how important it was. but i didn’t wanna bring it up either.” barney sighs. “i don’t know, i felt special” he smiles, barely “what if she realized i wasn’t? wanted it back? i didn’t want the whole thing to be just a drunken mistake. thing is, she didn’t look for it. i never said anything. time went on, i forgot i even had it”

“until last week” ted says.

“until last week. she came home, soaked and covered in mud, and told me everything, without realizing." there's a pause, a long one. ted can tell barney's thinking of something though. "i kind of got you that night, you know? the whole thing felt like a sign, a classic ted, destiny type thing. i decided it would be an awesome wedding gift. an actual wedding gift” he pokes and ted knows he deserves it.

they stay in silence again, both with too much to think about.

ted is feeling sick. he never felt great about wanting to give robin the locket, that’s for sure, but he always gave himself excuses. what if it’s meant to be? what if this is the sign they need? it all backfired on his ass at this very moment. it is meant to be and it is a sign, he found out, but it was for barney.

he’s feeling too many things at once. he’s mad at the universe, he’s in agony, he’s frustrated, embarrassed, guilty. then, he looks at barney, who just stood up and is now dragging his feed from one side to another, clearly thinking too much too. it’s only in this moment, he’s embarrassed to admit, he allows himself to notice how barney and robin made sense. there was a part of him that already knew that, of course, a part of him he never let speak for too long.

ted's imagination can't help itself wandering to the bride's room earlier that day. he pictures barney putting the locket in robin's neck and thinks about the thing barney'd said about choice. was the locket in barney's hands this whole time because she would always choose him or did she choose him because he had the locket all along? maybe that was the point: ted's been fighting a long lost battle. a sour taste lingers in his tongue imagining that she allowed herself to believe in fate today, but the corner of his lips curves slightly. the angst in his heart doesn’t go away, not yet, but somewhere deep down, this is closure in the most bizarre way.

barney is also feeling sick. he meant it when he said he could only imagine. for so many times in his life, he thought he just might be the guy watching robin marry someone else. ought to hurt. was it the jerkiest thing ted has ever done? yes. could he move past it, right now, and marry robin having ted by his side? he doesn't know. but his anger is wearing off.

“and that is…?” barney points to the thing on ted’s hands.

“i have no idea!” they both laugh a little awkwardly. “i guess, victoria’s?… well, not hers. a roommate, i don-”

“wait, how would it be victoria’s?”

“it’s a long- and wrong- story. let’s just say i went through a lot of trou-” he stops before finishing. maybe detailing to barney how much he had wanted the locket wasn’t a good idea. “doesn’t matter now”

ted gets up, takes a deep breath and tries, really hard, with all his extensive vocabulary, to tell barney how sorry he is. in the end, barney forgives him. maybe he needed that chapter to be closed just as much.

that was one of the most painful conversations ted has ever had and that night ended up being one of the most important nights of his life: he finally met the mother of his children, he said goodbye to years of pinning over the wrong girl and he got to see the beaming look on robin’s face when she said yes, once more, to barney. on her chest, the golden locket reminded ted of how easy it should and could be.

he watched destiny play its cards just right, as it always does.

_you see, kids, it's not something i'm proud of but i hope it teaches you this lesson: if you want- if you need- to see things a certain way, if you need reality to be slightly different, for your own personal reasons, then sometimes you manage to convince yourself. you manage to see exactly what you want to see and toss out the rest. but that's not real life. real life isn't eloping with your best friend's fiancee, your ex from a long time ago- saving her from the man she chose to be with- and living, happily ever after, the life the both of you agreed wouldn't happen so many years ago. that wedding wasn't about me, i forgot. it was their love story and i wasn't one of the main characters. this whole time i've been telling you the story of how i met your mother but, kids, i wouldn't have met your mother if i hadn't been the side character in your aunt robin and your uncle barney's story. it's crazy how easy it was for me to overlook how perfect they both fit in each other's lives and the journey they both went through to find themselves walking down the aisle together. how unrealistic and egocentric of me it was to dismiss robin's choice at the time. i'll say it again, i'm not proud, but it wasn't simple for me to let go of that eight-year dream. i was going through a tough time, but most of all, i didn't have the whole picture. now, looking back, i know what was about to happen in the train's station and i have seen the life barney and robin built together after saying 'i do' to each other. you've seen it, too, you've seen how absurd it was of me to think i was supposed to find the locket. and thank god i was wrong. thank god i made a fool of myself chasing after your aunt robin, brought her to our gang, introduced her to your uncle barney, dated her for a year, broke up with her, got a tramp stamp, met stella, got enganged to stella, got left at altar by stella for tony, got offered a teaching job by tony, met cindy and finally, hired cindy's old roommate's band to play at robin and barney's wedding. thank god i made an even bigger fool of myself in said wedding day and got my heart shattered in the groom's room. thank god because as you now know, it all lead me to the woman who's in the kitchen making cupcakes right now and you._

**Author's Note:**

> i hate the not-so-subtle message that the writers put in the locket.
> 
> the locket was a bit of robin that she chose to hide away, and keep safe. in a way, the locket symbolized her heart (it was shaped like a heart for fuck’s sake). we get even more confirmation of this when she says “shouldn’t i be with the man who finds me my locket?” when freaking out about the wedding.
> 
> by making ted the one who finds the locket the writers are saying that ted is the one robin should marry or at least that she shouldn’t have married barney. we know they are because they divorced robin and barney right after. but not only that, not only were they telling us that barney and robin aren’t meant for each other (by the symbolism of the locket) but that barney didn’t care enough, as he didn’t try the way ted did. basically: robin made the wrong choice, that’s the message of the locket. and it’s too late, also.
> 
> that’s truly just one of a few reasons i have to believe that they absolutely did not care about robin as a character at all. why else would they give her such sad and lonely ending? they divorce her from the man she thought was the one and marry the man who found her locket to his perfect woman. it’s almost cruelty. she had her career but they made a point to show she ended up being LONELY for YEARS. not just single, no, absolutely lonely, without even her friends. in the end, robin is ted’s trophy. ted had to have her. she couldn’t be happy with barney, no, we’re supposed to believe that, all along, ted was the right choice.
> 
> but here’s the thing, tho: all we’ve seen of ted and robin in the last half of the entire series is a very platonic friendship by robin’s side. from season 4 until that locket comes into the picture, is there anything telling us robin wants to be with ted? in season 7 she flat out tells him she doesn’t love him. and we believe her because we haven’t seen robin pinning over him for one second ever since season 4. that just adds another creepy layer to the whole thing: robin doesn’t even seem to love the guy the writers gave her locket to.
> 
> plus it's bs how barney doesn't get mad that ted went looking for the locket.
> 
> based on all of that, i decided to write this.


End file.
